


I'm yours, forever

by ziam45



Category: One Direction (Band), Zayn Malik (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, M/M, No Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-07-19 00:12:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7336831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziam45/pseuds/ziam45
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall devises a plan to get his best friends together, but what happens when his plan just turns into a mess?</p><p>Or where Zayn and Liam are childhood friends pining after each other. Harry and Louis are a couple and are just enjoying the drama. Niall, the cupid with an oblivious Josh.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever work on ao3. Please comment below if you have any suggestions either for the story or my writing. Hope you all enjoy!

"Let's go out mate! Try our luck, eh?", those words were the cause for Liam's dead silence right now. Louis took a look around the table to only be met by dropping chins and wide-eyed looks. It took about 2 minutes for Zayn to realise that maybe that question must be answered. He emptied his coke and nodded towards Niall, "Yeah sure. Eh, I mean if you're sure about it? Like.." said Zayn, his words dying in his mouth.

Oblivious to Zayn's inner panic, Niall just grinned around his sandwich and smirked at Liam. He could no longer take the pining and longing looks between those two twat heads and thought they should just get over themselves and go out. This thought actually led him towards maybe the most ingenious plan he ever had.

"Alright then. How about I pick you up at, say, 7 tomorrow? We could go catch a movie and maybe have pizza later. That ok with you?" asked Niall whose smirk didn't go unnoticed by Harry.

After nodding to himself, Zayn hummed in agreement with Niall and left the table mumbling something about having a cig and headed towards the door.

The whole table was filled with munching noises and Louis slurping his water too loudly, only to be interrupted by a yelp from Niall. Louis looked up at the sound and saw the glare in Liam's eyes. Well, if looks could kill, then Liam's would vapourize a person in an instant.

"Niall, what the hell?", Liam almost whisper-shouted at Niall. Niall, god bless him, looked extremely happy that his plan was working so well. "Look Li, I'm fed up of you and Zayn just making heart eyes at each other ok? I mean, what's wrong with two friends hanging out? The worst that can happen is...I don't know, him falling for me completely..", Niall cut off with a giggle, earning another smack from Liam.

"I didn't even know you liked guys..let alone Zayn!", Liam muttered and got up, giving a mock-wave to the guys and headed out.

Louis and Harry, who were just enjoying being spectators, finally turned towards Niall, with raised eyebrows demanding an explanation from the blonde. But Niall raised from his seat, shaking his head and pulling some bills to cover his part and also made a beeline towards the door.

At the last moment, he turned towards the duo and said, "After the date, either Zayn will love me for bringing him and Liam together or hate me forever! Ciao kids!". With that, the two boys saw the disappearing figure of his friend and just hoped that everything would go well.

All the way to his home, Liam could only think of one thing. How to kill Niall and not get caught!! He muttered a hi to his mum, slammed his bedroom door shut, jumping on his bed and just waited for some entity to come and swallow him whole. After some minutes, that felt like hours, his phone buzzed indicating he got a text from someone.

_Can I come over? xx_

Liam huffed and shot a text _of course_ and lied back on his bed, putting his phone away somewhere on the table. When he closed his eyes, all he could see was Zayn and Niall, at the cinema, at the pizza shop, walking the road holding hands and giggling with heads bent towards each other.

Liam's eyes shot open, when he heard a knock on his door. _Ok, this is it_ , he thought and got up the bed and opened the door.


	2. Chapter 2

  
"Hey babe!" greeted Zayn and entered the room. "You left so early. I thought we made plans to come back to your place after?" asked Zayn sheepishly. Liam couldn't believe his luck. Here he was, with Zayn, who beamed with the prospect of spending time with his mate, best mate - his heart said, just mate - his brain countered and all his mind could do was conjure up images of Zayn and Niall on date.

"Yeah. I just felt a bit sick so thought to get back." Liam responded and thought that what he said was almost a lie. _Almost_. Zayn lifted his hand and touched Liam's forehead with the back of his palm. If Liam gasped feeling the warmth of Zayn's palm spread all over, well, no one has to know!

After getting settled on Liam's bed, shoulders touching, both of them decided to watch Need For Speed. Liam took his laptop, balancing it on his lap and started the movie, laying back against Zayn.

Almost half into the movie, Zayn could hear soft snores coming from Liam. Careful not to jostle him, he propped the laptop into his lap and powered it off, trying his best not to wake Liam. Zayn looked around the room,that was the most familiar to him, after his room, and thought back to all the moments he spent here. He thought back to when he and Liam were six years, sitting on the floor and drawing each other as perfect as they could manage to.

Zayn smiled to himself at all the thoughts and looked back to the boy to his left and wondered what would it be like if Liam knew about his feelings and also whether he would reciprocate them. A buzz on Liam's phone, brought him back to the real world. He leaned towards the table to get Liam's phone, being as quiet as he could be. He debated with himself for a moment and glanced towards the screen. The text was from a person whose contact was named J. Just J followed by a smiley. Hesistant, Zayn unlocked the phone (Liam's password was same as his. 'marvel') and read the message.

_Hey Li. You still up for tom? Lemme noe! Love, J._

Zayn furrowed his brows and put the phone away, as if it had burned him. Liam has a date tomorrow? He grimaced at the thought. Sure he wasn't thrilled to know that. But he expected Liam to tell him if he was seeing anyone. He heard a grunt and turned to where Liam was rubbing his eyes and slowly raising to sit back against the head board.

Zayn screamed internally at how cuddly Liam looked. All he wanted was to wrap Liam in a hug and never let go. Then the thought that someone.. no.. some-J-one could be the one who would do that with Liam and not just in a friendly manner, made him jump away from the bed and almost fall on the floor. Liam looked confused and asked him what the matter was. He brushed it off and straightened his shirt while walking towards the chair and took a seat.

On watching this, Liam only got more confused. See, if anyone would ask him if he remembered how many times Zayn sat on the chair and not on his bed, he could count those times on _one finger_. And that once was today.

_Maybe he is distancing himself from you for Niall..._

Liam shook his head and asked Zayn if he felt hungry. Zayn shrugged his shoulders and stayed silent as Liam made his way to the kitchen to grab some crisps for them.

Both of them munched on the chips in silence. _I can actually hear my heart beat.._ Zayn thought to himself. Liam cleared his throat, which made Zayn look towards him. "So.. how d'ya feel?" slurred Liam, still munching. "About what?" asked Zayn, feeling truely clueless. Liam forced himself not to roll his eyes and asked him about his date with Niall. Liam debated whether or not he wanted to know the answer to that.

Zayn hummed, "I don't know.. I never saw Niall like that. I mean, um, he's a mate but, I don't know! Let's see what happens on the.. date". Zayn grimaced at himself as he spat the word 'date'. Liam nodded and sat back. "What do you think Li?" Zayn asked him hesitantly. When Liam gestured Zayn to continue, Zayn sighed and said, "I mean... is he actually serious about me or am I a rebound?..". Zayn stopped abruptly and hoped Liam understood what he meant.

Niall was a carefree, lovable and an adorable ball of sunshine. Liam still remembered the grin on Niall's face when he introduced Jade to the group as his girlfriend. Jade was the first girl that Niall ever loved. She brought Niall out of the 'fuck em, leave em' phase he was having. He even discussed asking her to the prom and the billion plans he made for that day, with them. To say that Niall was heart broken, when Jade confessed being in love with her bestfriend Brian and only went out with Niall to make Brian jealous, was somewhat an understatement. Liam remembers all of them piling, cuddling and snuggling with Niall to make him forget Jade, only to be met with his fake laughs and empty promises ("I'll be fine ya wankers." ,"There's more fish in the sea, or some shit like that").

Zayn cleared his throat, breaking Liam's thoughts and left promising to text when he reaches home. Hearing the word 'text', Liam thought of checking his phone. He woke his phone to life and punched in his password. Confusion clouded his mind, when the screen automatically showed Messages. (He distinctly remembers checking his instagram before shutting the phone.) That's when he noticed the recent message. He didn't remember reading the text. _Maybe Zayn read it..._ He shook his head and read the text. Smiling to himself, Liam replied with a 'Yes! For the twentieth time.. I'm up for it. Just text me when and where.'

Liam plugged his phone into the charger and thought back to how rigid Zayn seemed at the thought of going out with Niall...


	3. Chapter 3

( _flashback_ )

Although Liam had a group of friends who would, without any doubt, give their lives if asked for, he always felt like he was on the outside, looking in. Harry and Louis always appeared to be in a land called "Our love" and couldn't bother to even look as to who are around them. Give Niall a plate of food and he's satisfied. Zayn, with his broody and mysterious self, pretended not to care, but always let Liam know that when needed, he would be there for him.

Due to these reasons, no one could blame him for being as shocked as he was right now to actually have a guy standing in front of him and asking Liam whether he could take the seat next to him. Liam shook his head and nodded in agreement and went back to staring at his book, as he usually did during his history class. It was the only class where he didn't have any of the boys with him, trying to distract him as much as poosible.

His teacher, Mrs. Drew's words snapped him back to the class. (He seems to be zoning out a lot now-a-days!) "You will be partnered as I read the names just now. If any of you have any kind of problem with your partner and want to get them changed, well, I can't help you. But make sure you submit your assignment by Monday" chirped Mrs. Drew with a fond smile on her face and informed the students that they may leave to, hopefully, start working on the said assignment.

Liam cursed in his mind as he missed hearing the name of his partner. He looked around with wide eyes as if some guy would just shoutout and claim to be his partner. He huffed and stood up to maybe ask Mrs. Drew who his partner is. As Liam took a step towards her desk, he felt a hand on his shoulder stopping him in his tracks. He turned around and was met with blue eyes staring into his. This was the same guy who asked to sit beside him, before the start of class. Liam raised his eyebrows in question, secretly hoping the guy would understand. "Umm, you're Liam right? Liam Payne? I guess I'm your partner", the guy told Liam while sheepishly rubbing his neck.

Liam stood still as he didn't know what normal people did in these type of situations. ( _Should probably ask his name_ \- his mind commanded him) Liam cleared his throat and nodded his head in agreement and asked the guy his name. When Liam asked the guy, Josh, for his number, Josh widened his eyes as if someone has asked for his virginity. After exchanging numbers and discussing when to meet, they left with 'see you' and 'bye'.

Liam made his way towards cafeteria and searched for his friends and the random chaos they brought along with them. In the middle of an extremely long story narrated by their own Harry Styles, Liam felt a buzz in his pocket. There was a text from Josh which said that he was free today and if Liam wanted, they could meet at Josh's place to work on the assignment. Liam quickly shot a 'yeah!' and resumed his lunch avoiding Louis's questioning gaze.

( _end of flashback_ )

Even after desperately trying to hide his smile, Josh couldn't stop the nerves creeping up at the prospect of actually spending time with Liam. They've already spent the day before in Liam's house trying to agree on a topic and start their assignment on it. Josh actually never felt this pull towards someone as he did towards Liam. It was safe to say that he was enthralled by Liam's shyness mixed with his sunshiny smiles...

_(Did he just say sunshiny? In his thoughts?)_

Josh huffed and threw his phone somewhere on his bed. This is it, he thought. He would meet Liam tomorrow, and build up courage (even an ounce) and ask Liam out on a date. It took him about two weeks to actually bring himself to sit beside Liam in class. Till now, Josh was just a guy in the class who sat at the back, to try and get away with day dreaming during class and also to secretly stare at Liam without getting caught.

In cafeteria, he was always stealing glances and grinning on seeing Liam break into a smile himself. For this, his best mate Andy had branded him as stalker. Stolen glances, day dreaming, constant teasing by Andy and blushing red whenever he heard Liam's name..this was his life now.

( _Andy always had doubts about Liam and Zayn's friendship. He always tried to warn Josh saying that maybe those two are more than friends. Josh couldn't help but zone out whenever Andy talked about it. He just couldn't fathom the thought that maybe Liam already had someone else in his heart.)_

He shook his head to clear these thoughts and headed towards his bathroom to get ready for bed. After changing into pajamas, Josh finally calmed his nerves and went to bed thinking about brown eyes and shy smiles. He ended up going to sleep with a smile on his lips.


	4. Chapter 4

It was THE friday! Niall and Zayn were going on a date today. Liam and Josh were meeting to work on their assignment. Harry and Louis would ( _totally_ ) spend the day like they always did. In each other's eyes! Today was the day, Josh was gonna ask Liam out. Well, it was a day of new beginnings.

Liam walked into school with half sleep and a bump on his forehead. He couldn't sleep the entire night, for reasons he didn't want to state aloud. On his way to school, a guy walking his dog, ran into him and became the reason for his head ache. He tried real hard to push the thought of Zayn and Niall's date to the back of his mind, but the fucker just kept coming right back.

He took a deep breath and stepped inside the class. There, he saw Josh sitting in the seat next to his, and reading something. Liam panicked internally to the thought that maybe he forgot to prepare for some test. He rushed towards Josh and half-whispered and half-shouted at him, "What are you reading?" Josh slammed his book shut and smiled at Liam.

His smile immediately turned into a frown, seeing the look on Liam's face. Josh told him that he wasn't reading anything but just going through their halfway finished assignment once to check for errors of any kind. Liam breathed a sigh of relief and took his seat. He properly greeted Josh and confirmed their plans for today and started paying attention to the class. He figured, atleast that would distract him from the mess in his head. 

During lunch, Liam was finding excuses to actually rush out of there. Zayn and Harry were still in library and hence Louis started giving Niall tips, where he could take Zayn on a date. Liam saw a familiar guy making way towards the back of the room and waved him over. Josh and Andy greeted Liam and Josh almost squealed when Liam asked them to sit with him.

Liam introduced Louis and Niall to Josh and Andy after Andy was introduced to everyone. Louis and Andy quickly bonded on their love for football which left Liam, Niall and Josh listening to the duo. Harry and Zayn joined them later. To accommadate Zayn, he scooted closer to Josh and mostly ignored Zayn for the rest of their time. Zayn was confused with Liam's behavior and more upset with someone else grabbing his attention. To say the atmosphere was tense, would be an understatement.

After lunch, Zayn asked Liam to come over to his house as he was missing his bestfriend and wanted to spend time with him. 

Liam spent the entire time at Zayn's house either nodding yes to all of Zayn's choices of shirt or scowling at his fate. He was midly distracted by texts from Josh saying that he was running a bit late so will end up meeting him later than discussed. Zayn saw through the mirror that Liam was texting someone and raised his questions when he was caught staring at Liam. 

On hearing that Liam was texting Josh, Zayn felt his anger increasing every time there was a chime on Liam's phone. Liam left saying something about meeting Josh and wished Zayn luck on his date. Finally, after few minutes of fussing with his hair, he got a text from Niall saying that he was waiting outside. Zayn took a final look at himself and saying goodbye to his mum, headed towards Niall's car.


	5. Chapter 5

As planned, Niall had taken Zayn to watch a movie. Zayn was surprised when Niall offered to buy their tickets as well as their popcorn and drinks. After a lot of protest, Zayn finally gave in to Niall's pleads and entered the cinema. His surprise turned into shock when he realised that they were gonna watch The Conjuring 2. ( _Damn it! He should have asked Niall before only what they were gonna watch_.) Zayn huffed and leaned back in his seat and took his drink from Niall. They shared the popcorn, like any typical duo on their date would do.

After fifteen minutes into the movie, Zayn's thoughts drifted to the loneliness he felt, since he hadn't properly spent time with Liam for the past few weeks. Even during lunch, Liam was either busy talking to Josh or Andy or Louis. In fact, he would talk to everyone except Zayn. Zayn was brought back by a huge yelp that Niall let out. Now, he spent the entire time trying ( _real hard_ ) to focus on the movie and not think about the may-be date that Liam was having at the exact time.

After the movie ended, they decided to eat pizza at a place that was about two blocks from the theatre. The entire ride was spent with Niall telling Zayn how scary the movie was and how brave Zayn was since he didn't even shriek during the entire movie. Zayn smiled nervously at Niall and just nodded along.

Zayn was picking through his veggie pizza while Niall on other hand was few seconds away from devouring his. They decided to get seperate pizzas as Zayn couldn't eat Meat lover's and Niall had made gagging noises at the thought of eating Veggie pizza. Wiping his hands on his napkin, Niall excused himself to go to washroom. Zayn looked around the place and saw many couples sharing pizza or making out right there! Not to appear as a creep, Zayn focused back on his pizza. By the time Niall had arrived, Zayn had finished his pizza and was distractedly slurping his mountain dew.

Niall took his seat and cleared his throat to get Zayn's attention. When Zayn looked at Niall, he was clearly nervous about something and kept rubbing his neck. ( _Maybe he didn't enjoy the date as well and is trying to figure out how to let me down easily and convince me to be friends with him from tomorrow, Zayn thought._ )

"Umm Zaynie..? I wanna tell you something but I need you to hear me out completely before saying anything. Is that okay?", Niall asked sheepishly. When Zayn nodded, Niall continued saying, "See! I didn't ask you out today, secretly hoping to make you fall in love with me or anything! I asked you out cause I wanted to get to know you better. The thing is, Louis and Harry were, actually I think those two idiots were in love with each other before they even became friends!". Niall let out a nervous chuckle and was met with a grinning Zayn. "And Liam and you were so close. You guys share everything each other. It's as if, you guys know each other much better than yourselves. My entire life, I've longed to have a friend like that. A mate like that! Not a lover, but a mate. One who would be ok sharing anything with me and one, with whom I'd be completely open with. So I when I see you four, I always feel like an outsider looking in. Well, what I wanna say is, I've always admired the way you care for everyone around. The way you're with Harry, laughing at all of his silly jokes even when they're not funny, just cause you don't wanna hurt him. The way you counter everything that Louis says with a sass, but also how you're ready to defend him to life. And mostly, how loving and caring you're with Liam! I just, I guess I wanna know if I'm deserving enough to be your friend? That I'm not _just_ a guy you spend your lunch time with? And.." Niall was cut off when he was almost knocked off his chair by a teary-eyed hug from Zayn.

"Are you daft? Ofcourse, we love you. Never, ever did we think you were an outsider Ni. Maybe we get too caught up in ourseleves to actually hear you out, but trust me, we would jump in fire to save you. Asshole! Talking about being deserving enough? Shut the fuck up mate. You are more than just a guy I sit with, during lunch Niall. You are my bestmate! Never ever say or even think like that okay?", Zayn mumbled into Niall's neck.

After straightening himself, Zayn returned to his seat and was met by an wide-eyed and sniffling Niall. Zayn promised Niall and himself to be the best friend that Niall deserves and needs. While driving back home, they both mutually decided never to try dating again and actually be just best friends for now. The car ride was filled with laughs and Niall being occassionally punched by Zayn for his mean comments. All in all, Zayn felt that tonight couldn't have gone any better.

After bidding each other goodbye, Zayn was just about to get out of Niall's car, when he got a call on his phone from Liam. He answered the call, while Niall was looking around the neighborhood. Niall whipped his head towards Zayn when he heard a thump, caused by Zayn dropping his phone between his legs.

Zayn had never even thought, in his dreams, that this night would end like this!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a long time since I've updated. But here it goes! Hope you like it.

(flashback)

 

To say at the least, Liam was mad. At Niall, who asked Zayn on a date, out of the blue. At Zayn, who accepted Niall's proposal. At Harry and Louis, for being so oblivious and uncaring. ( _Hello!! Best friends are supposed to be caring!_ ) But more at himself, for being a coward and hiding his feelings for Zayn and pretending like they did not exist. For pretending like his heart doesn’t beat out of his chest, whenever Zayn so much as grins at him.

 

Well anyway, he tried to look upbeat as he knocked on Josh’s door. Josh’s parents had gone for Josh’s father’s office party and would not be home till late night. After a few seconds, Josh opened the door with a smile and invited Liam in. He offered Liam a glass of water, which Liam accepted gratefully. Josh then led them to his room.

No wallpaper! That’s what Liam first observed when he got into Josh’s room. It was a little odd to him, because _hey this is supposed to be a teenager’s room. Not some 86 year old grandma’s_. Well he just shrugged his backpack off and the two boys started working on their assignment.

 

Liam didn’t even notice that it been an hour since they began their work. Neither of the boys seemed interested in making small talk. Now Liam started thinking about Niall and Zayn and wondered how their date was going. He was so deep in his thoughts that Liam did not even notice how he and Josh were sitting side by side, shoulder to shoulder, and thighs touching. Josh then began leaning towards Liam and put his head on Liam’s shoulder.

 

Confused, Liam scooted away from the other boy and turned towards him to ask _what the hell_! Liam did not even have time to let a word out as he felt a pair of lips crashing onto his. But then he was brought back to his senses, as Josh let out a whimper _(or was it a moan? Who cares!)._

 

Liam got up quickly and started pacing the room. When he looked at Josh, he was staring at Liam as if Liam had grown two heads. Liam started to speak but was cut off by Josh. “Liam, I’m sorry. I just like you a lot and I- I don’t know what got into me. Please let me explain.” rambled Josh and stopped his talk midway when he took a look at how Liam wasn’t even listening to him.

 

Liam just kept pacing back and forth. He knew he should be responding to Josh and actually, most importantly, get out! But he was too busy thinking how he had betrayed Zayn.  _(I just kissed someone! Someone who’s not Zayn! What would Zayn think? He would hate me!)_

 

Taking a deep breath, Liam turned to Josh. Josh’s face was covered with tears. “Oh my god Josh. Please don’t cry. I get it..but I’m not angry at you.” pleaded Liam, trying real hard to make Josh understand. “I’m so sorry Liam. You must hate me now.” Josh let out between hiccups.

 

“I don’t hate you Josh”, explained Liam, “But I just like someone else.” Apparently this got Josh’s attention as he stopped his crying, wiped his tears and stood up. “It’s Zayn isn’t it?”, Josh grunted. Liam almost cringed at the way Josh just spit Zayn’s name out. “It’s always been him right? The best friend! Greatest buddy! Well guess what, news flash Liam, he doesn’t love you. Not the way I do.” with that Josh tried to reach for Liam, but Liam just backed away.

 

“He may not love me Josh. But I love him. I’ve loved him for a long time.”, Liam was trying real hard to act strong. He knew there was some truth to Josh’s words, but he didn’t wanna believe it. Liam squinted and asked him, “And how could you love me? We didn’t even know each other a week ago?”

 

Josh knew he was caught now. So he told Liam _everything_. About how he used to look at him everyday, how he admired the strength he saw in Liam, about how he was falling even more in love with him, everyday.

 

Liam was just bedazzled by Josh’s confession. _Damn! How did I not notice it? ,_ he thought to himself. By now, they had made their way to the living room. Liam tried to comfort Josh in the best way he can, and continued letting out simple ‘sorry’ in between Josh’s sobs.

 

Liam suggested to go out for dinner and just talk. Josh promised him that he would try to suppress his feelings for Liam and try and be his friend. That eased Liam, as he was not ready to lose a great friend and said so. But what Liam failed to notice was how Josh was lost in deep thought. When Liam asked him if Josh is ready to go, Josh just nodded and told him to lead the way.

 

_(Anger was coursing through Josh. How dare Liam reject him? And for who? Zayn!? Zayn did not even care enough about Liam and was not at all grateful about having Liam in his life. Josh then and there swore to himself to not let Liam go. He would fight for his love. Even if he had to do it under the mask of some lame friendship. The thought alone brought a grin to his face. He just followed Liam to the diner.)_

 

After having eaten at a diner, the boys began walking towards Liam’s favorite icecream shop which was right around the corner. Andy was coming to pick Josh up, as Liam would not let him stay alone for the night. Josh had already crossed the road while Liam stayed back to pay the cash for their ice creams. Liam could see Josh, across the street, waving down for a car, which was Andy’s, Liam guessed.

 

At a far distance Liam could see a small kid following a cat and just walking across the road carelessly. He looked around for the girl’s parents but couldn’t locate them. The kid was so engrossed in picking up the cat, that she did not even seem to hear honking of the car coming right at her. Liam rushed towards her and took a leap at the girl, pushing her out of the way.

 

The last thing Liam could hear was Josh screaming his name out loud and people rushing towards him. He closed his eyes thinking of hazel eyes and a chant of _‘Zayn, Zayn, Zayn’_ on his mind.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> All kudos and comments are appreciated.


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